12 Favorite Photos from 2025
This has been a year of change for me. After spending our entire lives living in Maryland, my wife and I relocated Fernandina Beach, Florida. I ended up taking almost 6 months off in order to get the old house ready for sale, pack up, move to Florida and reestablish our home. It took some doing, but I have a new studio to work in and a whole new landscape to explore. So here are twelve of my favorite photo moments of 2025.
The first of my favorite photographs of 2025 was taken January 9th after a good snowfall covered the grounds of Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD. One of my favorite subjects, the Twisted Tree greets the early morning sun as it rises from the surrounding forest. The roof of the Japanese Pavilion just peeking over the hill behind the tree.
Photo number two had to wait all the way to July 15 as this was my first time out with my camera after the move to Florida. Taken looking north at Amelia Island from the Boneyard Beach on Big Talbot Island, Florida, I had to wait for the line of clouds to move east to get this shot about 40 minutes after sunrise.
The third of my favorite photos came on July 27. I joined Photo Walk Amelia, a social photography group, where I hoped to learn about my new home, meet some interesting photographers and make some new friends, all of which has happened. My first walk with the group was of all places in a very old Cemetery buried in a very old Oak Grove. We walk the grounds of Bosque Bello at last light on a Sunday afternoon and then shared dinner together. I caught the light shining through the trees where it lit up the Spanish moss hanging from the branches of a mighty oak.
Dawn on August 6 found me in Amelia Island State Park. With the clouds on the horizon and the sun’s rays lighting up the sky above them, I caught this great combination of oranges and purples across the vast dunes of the southern end of the Island.
On August 24, I went with Photo Walk Amelia to photograph a sunrise at Blackrock Beach. We had a good crowd but forgot to invite the sun. Daybreak was nothing more than a slightly brighter form of darkness. Flash forward to 10 days later and on September 4, I did a do over and came away with this shot.
Two days later on the 6th of September, I photographed the marshes at Holly Point in Nassuaville, FL. There were some good sunrise pics, but I liked this quiet view of the morning light bringing daytime to the Marshes.
I took favorite photo number 7 on my second trip down to St. Augustine on September 26, where I greeted the day on the grounds of Castillo de San Marcos. These palm trees stand between the centuries old fort and the Bay. I titled them the Sentinels of Castillo San de Marcos, as they felt like they were standing guard duty just outside the walls. I’ve also done a painting of this photo.
Photo 8 was also taken in St. Augustine. In the early afternoon I went across the bay to St. Augustine Island and toured the lighthouse. I have always wanted to shoot the inside of a lighthouse with a spiral staircase, and this was my opportunity. 219 steps, vertigo, echoing voices and what could have been ghostly shadows behind me – everything I always wanted in a lighthouse tour.
On November 5 the moonset coincided with the sunrise. The result is a bright orange Harvest Moon in the pre-dawn skies. The Photo Walk Amelia group set up to photograph this beautiful moon. As luck would have it (mine is almost always bad) I couldn’t find my group in the dark. So, I texted the group leader and told him I was obviously in the wrong place, but I was getting some really good shots. Sometimes it is just dumb luck, but I got a lot of good shots that morning and have three paintings already on my schedule.
Photos 10 and 11 came on a trip to Jekyll Island, GA on December 9th. The island has a historic district which does an incredible light display. I went with my photography friends early enough to look around the island, and we photographed the sunset and the lights. I managed to get a good river view with a flock of birds flying through just after the sunset.
As the evening went on, I managed quite a few good shots of the christmas lights but the one below at twilight was my favorite.
My last photo of the year (literally taken late in my last shoot of the year) is of Fernandina Beach Center Street very early in the pre-dawn morning of December 19. Taken before the town wakes up and the crowds move in; I was able to get this shot from the middle of the street without being run over by traffic.
That was my 2025. I’ve traded the rolling hills of central Maryland and Chesapeake Bay views for the beaches and marshes of Amelia Island, Florida. I hope you follow along in 2026 as I discover what the Florida/Georgia coastal area has in store for me.